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In other words, Mrs. Willis continued, for the council to deny the application would mean that it had applied stricter standards to the county’s application than to other applicants. She specifically cited C.E. “Skippy” Giles application to remodel the former Washington Cash Store.
The ARB allowed him to remove the store’s original double doors, replacing them with a modem single door. If the doors had not been removed the handicapped ramp could not have been built. But, she added, a strict interpretation of the ordinance would have meant the original doors had to stay, even at the expense of his plans.
Mrs. Willis said she hopes that the members of the ARB can n^eet with the council for a “round table discussion to give us direction.”
She suggested that the ARB should elect a new chairman each year, and that each member should take a turn at the post. And, “if we have guidelines and standards we should have a (public) hearing. I’m not comfortable with people not knowing -- let alone the applicants.”
Mayor Dean Morehouse called Mrs. Miller’s letter “a totally inaccurate accounting of what council was trying to do . . . We have supported the ARB in the past — we went to court for them and sued over the fence.”
Mrs. Miller’s statement, the mayor continued, “in theory is good. But this is not Williamsburg or Wa: terford, it’s Washington. We live here. It’s not a restoration ordinance, and sometimes, with uses, there are overriding concerns.”
Yes, Mr. Morehouse said, “it was the judgement of the council that the use was appropriate -- but it was not an overturning of the ARB, not a judgement that they were wrong.”
The arguments for and against the addition, the mayor said, were in his opinion best summed up by Judge Rayner Snead when he said that the county “presented a strong case softly” and the ARB “presented a weak case strongly.”
The debate, Mr. Morehouse continued, “was not destructive. It was instructive in making people realize how important the Historic District Ordinance is.”
Mayor Morehouse said Mrs. Miller’s resignation was “unfortunate . . . If you are a public official you’ve got to realize that everybody is not always going to agree - you’re not going to win all the time.”
The ARB approved the following applications for Certificates of Appropriateness:
• The Town of Washington, for concrete and aggregate sidewalks to replace the present cracked and deteriorating ones. It is possible, depending on the cost, that the corners
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